


They Whose Heart Is Firm

by flamingosarepink



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Gary and Jamie are retired top level Show Jumpers, M/M, Slightly inspired by their Sky Racing segment, The Equestrian AU that literally no one asked for has a sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 03:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17859452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamingosarepink/pseuds/flamingosarepink
Summary: “You’re lucky that Gary is so focused when he rides that he doesn’t really notice anything else going on around him. If he knew you were here watching him right now? He might be feeling a little nervous.”





	They Whose Heart Is Firm

**Author's Note:**

> When I wrote this fic last year, I certainly didn’t think that people would ask for a sequel and I CERTAINLY didn’t think I’d ever write a sequel. But here it is! I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The title is from a quote by Leonardo da Vinci.

It is one of the quieter Monday mornings that Gary can remember happening at the farm, given that on principle, Mondays are the preferred day of rest after previously busy work weeks for the horses. Last week was no exception given that preparations for The Dutch Masters, one of the most important shows on the calendar are in full swing. There are many things to be done, from sorting out health certificates for the 3 horses making the trip to Den Bosch in The Netherlands to organizing passports and finalizing entries. Gary and a working student are in his office sitting at his desk; sorting the corresponding paper work for each horse into files with their names on them- Cliff Z, Botticelli, Principessa. Outside, Phil is in one of the round pens working with a statuesque 2 year old bay mare, easily identified by the fact that she has not one single white marking on her. Attentively, she slows to a halt from a easy, ground-covering walk with a soft spoken woah. Vocal commands are the first thing taught to any horse who comes through the training facility. 

Phil sends the young mare forward again with a firm sounding walk, the strain of doing circles of any gait beyond a walk too much for her still growing joints despite the young horse’s height at 16.2 hands. She seems mature yet from the way her head shoots up with ears pricked, halting abruptly distracted at the sound of a horse box coming up the gravel drive way and the loud calling out of the horse inside one easily knows she isn’t. As Phil moves forward to pet her on the neck, the thought of _“We weren’t expecting a new horse.” _crosses his mind.__

__From inside the training barn office, Gary hears this as he walks out with the working student. “Go fetch Rooney from his stall and put him out in his field.” He says with a worried tone of voice at the sound of a horse pawing at the wooden stall door somewhere in the stable. Even while the horse box is still somewhat far up the driveway, Gary knows where it came from by the flash of red lettering at the top, _Melwood International_ and by the walk of the man stepping out of the driver’s side to put the ramp down once it has stopped at the spot typically used to unload horses in front of the barn. By the time he makes it out of the barn to the side of the horsebox, he is noticed by the driver who offers an almost soft, fond smile instead of opening the door to the box. Gary offers one in return, but is somewhat puzzled._ _

__“Did I miss something last time we talked?”_ _

__“Come again?”_ _

__“Jamie, you said that Charlton and his rider had just won their second competition together so I just assumed that-“_ _

__Jamie suddenly looks a little nervous, yet with an excited air in his eyes. “Gary, hear me out.” He says, walking up the ramp and opening the door only to disappear inside. Gary hears him untying a lead rope, then the sound of the horse preparing to step down the ramp. “You told me on our first date that you miss the show ring because training kids and horses only to send them on to another rider gets monotonous, and that if the right horse came along that you might entertain the idea of showing again so I got to thinking and-“_ _

__Suddenly, everything clicks in Gary’s mind as he watches the horse step off the trailer._ _

__The horse is as beautiful of a mare as Gary’s ever seen, standing 17 hands and so dark brown she could almost be black with a thick line of white going down her face with white stockings going up past her knees on all four legs. She’s well muscled, and clearly has been well taken care of as well as nurtured from her calm and easy-going demeanor. Once she’s stepped off the ramp, a growing smile betrays Gary’s initial feeling of being cross at Jamie for bringing him a horse he didn’t really ask for. “This is Bleu. I raised her myself, brought her up myself, but I’m never going to show her but then I got to thinking that if there was someone I trusted implicitly,” he reaches to hand Gary the red lead rope, “That maybe I could let them do it instead. It just so happens that someone is you. She’s only 9 years old, so she isn’t ready to step up to top level yet however I thought that would end up working out well for you.”_ _

__Gary heaves out a sigh, not finding it in himself to feel cross anymore but feeling understandable feelings of nervousness at the idea of this happening so soon. He isn’t looking to qualify for another Olympics or European Championships (at least he thinks he isn’t) but Gary if anything is a competitor and his hiatus has been long enough. “I’ll have some time to get used to her before I leave for the Dutch Masters, that way she can get used to her new home while I’m gone. I wasn’t looking for this to happen so soon but I suppose this is as good a time as any. When the right horse appears, it just appears.” Gary concedes, taking the lead rope from Jamie, who looks as proud as one could imagine._ _

__Bleu ends up occupying the large roomy stall vacated by Charlton, which seems appropriate given that the chestnut gelding was one of Gary’s favorite trainees. The stall is filled with fresh knee high straw which the mare wastes no time laying down on once set loose after her custom red travel sheet bearing her show name _Bleu de Melwood_ has been taken off and put into the small wheeled tack locker that sits in front of her new stall. “Clearly she won’t have any problems settling in, will she?” Gary says with a chuckle. _ _

__“Not at all. She never really gets stressed about much, unless you’re feeding other horses carrots and don’t offer her one.” Jamie jokes._ _

__———_ _

__The first time Gary rides her it is three days later, early in the morning in the indoor riding hall that is attached to the training barn. Save for Gary, the only other person here is working student charged with doing the morning chores, the chores that have to be done before everyone else arrives. It’s a good thing she doesn’t try to sneak a peek of him riding; being much too concerned with her morning chores that consist of feeding all 14 horses on the property. Arriving this early has always been something Gary has done since his competition days, preferring to ride in the peace and quiet that comes from having the arena all to yourself._ _

__Gary isn’t worried about anyone watching per se, he’s always known that he wasn’t the most elegant rider despite what people might think. But what he lacks in the textbook perfect equitation that many of the Americans obsess over from the first time they sit on a pony, is seamlessly perfect communication with the horse under him. The words of his trainer back in his Junior days crosses his mind. _“I don’t know how you do it to make your canter transitions look so perfect- I can’t even see your leg move an inch.”_ If anything, Gary is an absolute perfectionist but he hates the feeling of watching eyes. He wonders how he ever made it into the ring in Aachen knowing there were 40,000 pairs of them in the stands. _ _

__He takes his time warming up Bleu, letting her walk all the way around the arena on a loose rein to relax as well as stretch her neck and back muscles to prepare for her workout. After that, he repeats the same process in the trot. For this horse, it seems to come naturally. But Gary can only imagine the amount of time and effort Jamie put into Bleu from the time she was a weanling. Her steps are energetic yet seemingly composed, and she never speeds up or slows down._ _

__By the time they move into the canter, she is self-carrying, so balanced that she doesn’t need contact with the reins to help her stay in a frame like most horses. After never having taken a bad step for two laps -one each direction- Gary guides her to a halt with his voice to which she listens to, calmly coming to a stop. Given her level of fitness, Bleu hasn’t even broken a sweat. After having been untacked and taken for a brief hand grazing session, its off to the wash stall for a bath. A bath she probably doesn’t need in the first place, but it’s the details that help bond with a new horse._ _

__By the time Gary has turned her out in the paddock nearest the barn and walked back inside the clock outside his office reads 8:00 am._ _

__Not long after, Phil arrives with his traveling tea mug in hand ready to teach his first lesson- someone trailering in who promptly arrives some ten minutes later._ _

__——_ _

__“So do you like her?” Jamie asks from his place at the kitchen island counter as Gary stands at the stove, stirring a soup of some kind to make sure it doesn’t burn. His face bears a somewhat smug look at feeling as if he already knows the answer._ _

__“Of course I do,” Gary begins as he moves to take two bowls out of the cabinet nearby._ _

__He turns to face Jamie, smiling somewhat more fondly and happier than he might allow himself to whilst talking about a horse he barely knows and has ridden once. But this horse isn’t just any horse, but one developed and loved by the man he loves. A man equal in talent and training ability, who has nurtured this horse from newborn to 9 year old. “When I rode her this morning, she was as good as any horse I rode during my competition days.”_ _

__“Even as good as Salford?” Jamie still has that smug look on his face as references the mare Gary won 2 European Championships, Olympic gold, and a WEG team silver with. Gary spoons the soup into two bowls,_ _

__“ She’s _almost_ as good as Salford,” Gary says gently, setting the two bowls down on the counter before setting down and leaning over to press a featherlight kiss to Jamie’s left temple. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.” He whispers to the spot before parting. _ _

__Jamie knows that Gary is only thinking realistically, knowing the disappointment that comes along with having hopes for a horse only to have them dashed by injuries or worse._ _

__——-_ _

__“At the rate you keep showing up here, Stevie’s going to think you want a job.” Phil teases once he notices Jamie as he walks up to the in gate of the indoor riding hall. “I’m an owner of a horse here now, I’m free to pop in here as I please now.” Jamie is half joking and half serious. After exchanging a greeting in the form of shake of the hand, they turn their attention to the horse and rider in the arena._ _

__It’s not as if the horse and rider are executing difficult, impressive maneuvers or anything like that. But the overall picture being painted by how well the horse and rider communicate is a beautiful one given every seamless transition from one gait to the next. Walk to trot, trot to walk, walk to canter. The last is probably the most difficult, given that only the most balanced and supple horses can do it well._ _

__“You’re lucky that Gary is so focused when he rides that he doesn’t really notice anything else going on around him. If he knew you were here watching him right now? He might be feeling a little nervous.” Phil speaks in a soft, matter of fact way about his brother._ _

__“I don’t think that I’ve ever seen Gary truly nervous,” Jamie’s eyes are on the pair as the rider steers the horse towards a single jump, a vertical measuring one meter ten in height. It’s not too big but not too small either; the perfect height to measure the level of a horse’s ability to jump well. “Nervous about not knowing if he’d win sure, but by the time he got to the in gate he always looked like he was sitting on the best horse at the event, and he rode like it. It’s why he always seemed to have the winning edge.”_ _

__Phil stifles a laugh. “You mean, it’s why he always seemed to have the winning edge against _you_.” _ _

__Jamie concedes, thinking of all the times that Gary bested him at competition after competition and all the times he never felt bad about it. “It doesn’t bother me, it’s how I know that those two will go on to do great things together.”_ _

**Author's Note:**

> A few things from the fic explained:
> 
> \- Cliff Z is named in reference to Manchester United's training ground at The Cliff, and the Z denotes he was bred at the Zangersheide Stud in Belgium. 
> 
> \- The Dutch Masters in Den Bosch is one of the most prestigious events in Show Jumping as it is one of four events that make up the Grand Slam of Show Jumping. The other events are in Geneva, Spruce Meadows in Canada, and Aachen which is in Germany.
> 
> \- The word gait is used to describe the movements (Walk, trot and canter) 
> 
> \- The overall plot of the story is slightly inspired by the story of how my horse came into my life. A friend in the horse business called my mom one day and said “I have your daughter’s next horse!”
> 
> \- Equitation is the word we use to describe the rider’s position and style of riding. In Europe, this is less of a concern due to the fact they value skill of rider and proper training of the horse more than anything else.
> 
> \- In the scene where Gary is warming up Bleu, I wanted to go into the process of what it takes to properly prepare a horse for a work out. Competition horses are just like any other athlete and have an extensive warm up process! 
> 
> \- When a horse has been trained properly and strengthened the muscles in the neck and back, they become balanced enough due to evenly developed muscles on both sides of the body to be able to display correct movement. This is what self-carriage is and thus, the rider can concentrate on themselves and the task at hand. 
> 
> \- The title is taken from a quote by da Vinci that I found very applicable to my experience in riding. ‘I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles into death.’ Many riders in competition have had their morals corrupted to the point they no longer do right by themselves and most importantly, their horse who is their partner in their achievements. There are, as one might imagine, many problems that can arise in different ways when training and competing horses. But when you stand firm with what you know, you know what it means to be a good rider.


End file.
